Say a skydiver is planning a trip to "Norway".
(turning to the darkside for the first time)
What are the PROs and CONs of him using his normal skydiving rig? (with suitable canopy, bridal/PC etc.)
i can think of some PROs:
+Reserve
+Familier equipment
OR if you would recommend hiring a BASE rig there -why?
thank you for your time, bsbd
james
I'd consider some of the sites as "foot launched skydives" perfectly conducive to the use of your skydiving rig. There are however others that aren't quite as simple and would require the use of a more specialized base rig.
contact Basic Research for their opinion and consider joining them on their anual safari over there. You can't go wrong that way!!!
I would have to agree with JohnE on this.
I would strongly recommend you get some lessons in freepacking your main though. You will need to pack you main different than a regular skydive. You may also need to get a mesh slider instead of a sail slider. Ask Nick and/or Adam their opinion on this.
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Thanks
Mick Knutson
BLiNC Magazine
"Everything you ever wanted to know about BASE Jumping, but didn't know who to ask."
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Here's what we tell jumpers interested in Norway for a "first" time BASE experience.
"You will need a BASE or skydiving container with a 7-cell or 9-cell main canopy where you weigh no more than 0.85 pounds per square foot. (Divide the canopies square footage by your weight)."
Norway is one of those places where the line between BASE jumping and skydiving is a little blurry. And that's alright. People have been jumping terminal type cliffs for many years using both types of gear successfully.
However, when using skydiving gear, the jumper in question must be educated on the "BASE Facts of Life & Death" mainly that BASE equipment is very site specific. And they must know this before returning home with the idea of plundering every object in town with their skydiving gear. (Okay, granted, you’d think this is obvious to most, but be careful, sometimes it's not).
Some folks use skydiving gear, like you said, because it's familiar, and that's important. However, the second year in Norway these same folks are usually sporting the latest and greatest in BASE equipment. This is due in part to the weight factor and how it effects the hike, but also, by the second year they are better able to understand, and agree with, the philosophy of using single parachute BASE containers.
Many folks have been spoon fed this line, "BASE jumpers don’t use reserves because there is no time in most cases." While this is true to some extent, it misses the point.
Skydiving containers and skydiving canopies are complicated when viewed next to a standard BASE rig and a BASE 7-cell canopy. And at the drop zone it’s an unmistakable fact that these complications cause a majority of the reserve rides. In aviation, it’s also a fact, simple stuff works better.
Skydivers already have the one canopy mentality, they just don’t realize it at first. If they didn’t, they would never be able to cutaway a minor malfunction on their mains without carrying a third parachute.
Skydiver’s question, "How can you jump from so high without a reserve?"
BASE jumper’s answer, "We don’t jump without reserves, we jump without mains."
Nick_BR
If you take a skydiving main I would go for a 7 cell with decent BASE aspect ratio/wing loading etc. Also I would remove any Cypres in case of a water landing. Landing sites are not condusive to those fast Stilleto flare swoops!!
I guess you want your skydiving rig because it's got a reserve? In the beginning I thought the same, but I've always jumped a single parachute system. Why? Because when I prepare for a base jump, I check my gear and pack it like I would a reserve (at least inspecting the most critical things). So when I make the leap, I trust this single parachute system like I trust my reserve when I'm skydiving. So when I pull the chute, I know the worst thing that can happen is linetwists or lineover (keep a hook-knife handy). Although I've never experienced this, I'm slways aware of the chance of this happening. My advice is borrow (or rent) a base rig, and have a experienced basejumper show you how to inspect and pack it while you're watching. This helped me a lot in trusting my gear anyway. BTW: If you're not pulling way high, will you have time to cutwaway and pull your reserve?
Good luck & have fun! :-)
The PROs and CONs?
Here´s some things to think about;
It´s hard to imagine what you mean by a "normal" skydive rig, would that be late `80´s normal,early `90´s, or late `90´s?, Example; If you have a xxxxx rig built in the early `90´s for a xxxxx 150sqft with a pack volume of 350 cubic inches, then it would be very unlikely that a proper size canopy for BASE would fit in the container properly ....
Can you see what I´m getting at?
Or maybe you have a dinosaur rig from the `80´s,
Will its weight and profile screw your tracking to the point where you have very little time if any for reserve procedures (IF your tracking is good enough)? In Norway, the almost 1000m´s have to be earned, the highest verts there are 550-600m´s, the rest has to be acheived by your tracking......Still following me?
As for hiring a rig; I hope you plan to stay a while there, as many others have the same idea.
If you go there in the busiest times then you will have to stand in line with the rest of the ill prepared as they don´t have a stockpile of "renties" available. Familiarity can give great psychological support on the exit point if you know that the gear you´re familiar with is compatible with the jump, otherwise...........
Hope this helps (you think). Contact GS, CR, BR, Vertigo for the acceptability of your gear, They also have insights to older skydiving gear problems,recalls etc....Play it safe dude,
later,
cya
space
so $$$$les base jumpers can pay there way
Having been to Norway twice, and having read the replies you've had, I suspect you are still somewhat in the dark.
When you get there, there may or may not be rental gear available, it's usually a spare rig belonging to one of the other jumpers, and is likely to be expensive to rent ($50 or so, per jump). Once you've rented the gear, you then have to pack it. Not easy for a skydiver trying to do a BASE pack job on gear with which he is unfamiliar.
Alternatively, and more likely, you will take with you borrowed skydiving gear. If this is the case, find a large 7-cell, they won't let you jump with anything heavily loaded or which is likely to land quickly (and for good reason). The first time you jump, chances are that you'll do a relatively short delay (10 seconds or so), and that you won't have tracked very far. Under these circumstances, it is much better to be under a canopy with a low forward speed, my first opening there was 180 degrees off-heading. Providing you don't have line twists, a 10 second delay with any sort of track will give you ample time to haul on a rear riser. The landing is also problematic, there are lots of rocks, the designated landing area just having slightly less rocks than anywhere else, so something that lands with a low horizontal component is good.
A short delay would probably give you time for a reserve, but you'd have to react instantly, and it may be better to land a line-over on a large canopy rather than risk it.
I guess my advice is, don't worry unduly about jumping skydiving gear (although it does probably add to the risk), just find something suitable, and get your hands on a BASE packing video and learn to pack it to minimise the risk of a line-over or off-heading opening. You'll need a larger pilot chute (I used a 40 inch), and you may wish to consider putting a mesh slider on it (I've had a couple of snivelley openings).
Above all else, be aware of the risks, and learn as much as you can before you go. You'll find the people there very helpful and friendly, so long as you don't turn up with the attitude that you know it all.
One other thing you may consider, if money isn't a problem, is the Sorcerer from Vertigo. It is a BASE rig with a reserve that will open in about 30 feet after cutting away the main. It will run you approximately $2k with canopies. Well worth the investment if you're planning to just go to Norway once a year.
This is a message I attempted to post when you originally posed this question. For some reason It wouldn't upload.
Here are some points to consider when debating the use of a skydiving rig at Kjerag:
Hi James, I'm a BASE jumper that started in the era of skydiving rigs being used for BASE. I'm also President of Consolidated Rigging, Inc. - a BASE gear manufacturer. I prefer to use single parachute rigs but I didn't come to that opinion without forethought and testing. Here are a few thoughts on that subject:
I would say that most of the exit points at Kjerag are suitable for a skydiving container.
Given that it would be familiar gear, this is also a plus.
However, there are a few critical points. A Vector V-5 w/ a BASE canopy is a "skydiving container" and will work well. A Vector V - micro small&tight w/ a small eliptical or high performance rectangular skydiving canopy is bad. So not all skydiving rigs are created equal when it comes to using them for BASE. One thing to avoid: Deployment bags. They WILL compromise on-heading performance.
Another consideration is delay length. A long delay from exit point #7 is 20+ seconds. An average delay is in the mid teens. For you to make use of the reserve that you are carrying you will have to limit your delays to the low teens. This isn't a bad thing, but the point is, using a skydiving container for these types of BASE jumps will present some potential shortcomings (not bonifide negatives). It would be a shame to contend with the extra weight, potentially reduced heading performance, etc only to render the reserve unusable by virtue of too long a delay.
It is a personal decision and you are doing the right thing by gathering information to make it an informed choice.
Although hundreds of BASE jumpers feel confident jumping these cliffs and others with single parachute rigs, try asking yourself one question from a position of hind sight:
As you lay in the rescue helicopter after crashing in on your rented single parachute rig, will you be able to say you chose that rig for the proper reasons. Albeit, the outcome may have been bad but was your intial decision sound?
That may sound strange coming from an advocate and manufacturer of single parachute rigs but when your butt is at stake it is effectively the bottom line in the decision making process.
Adam Filippino
Consolidated Rigging, Inc.
http://www.crmojo.com - CR-Home Page
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